EVERY second counts in an emergency.
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With this in mind, Leeton Fire and Rescue NSW has urged residents and businesses to find the water hydrant on the footpath and street closest to their home or place of work and check its condition.
Leeton Fire and Rescue Captain Graham Parks said in a fire emergency, knowing the location of and having unobstructed access to a water supply is critical to saving lives and property.
“Precious minutes can be lost in an emergency if firefighters are hindered by hidden or obstructed hydrants, particularly at night,” he said.
“There have been numerous incidents where firefighters have been unable to access the nearest hydrant in an emergency due to it being poorly marked, obstructed by parked cars, mud or debris, overgrown vegetation or garden beds being built over the hydrant.
“Poorly maintained or unusable hydrants result in critical time being lost while firefighters clear the hydrant or search for and access another one further from the fire.”
Captain Parks suggested in become part of routine behaviour among neighbours.
“If you’ve got six or seven houses, maybe each home owner could take it in turns of ensuring the water hydrant in that area is easily accessible,” he said. Fire and Rescue NSW said there were three simple steps residents could carry out.
The first is to find their closest water hydrant, clear around that area so it is clearly marked and accessible and, if maintenance is required, report it to the Leeton fire station.
“We can come out and fix what we can or alert council to it as well,” Captain Parks said.
Leeton Fire and Rescue has also recently been issued with new high-tech helmets.
Each helmet now comes complete with a communications system for radio, as well as different face protectors that are easier to handle. A smaller visor can also be used as eye googles, instead of having them attached separately.
Captain Parks said they were an improvement.
“Having the ‘comms’ in each of them was really necessary,” he said.
“While they are heavier they are a lot more comfortable to wear.” The helmets were issued to firefighters across the state.